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Advantages and Disadvantages of Living in a City Center

Some people say that city center is the best place to live. One has an easy access to all the amenities of life. Additionally, city centers are the places where all the business, educational, official and trade activity centers are located. The commuting time is nothing as compared to those living in the suburbs. There are, however, some big disadvantages of living in the city center as well. Following lines would give you a great comparison in this regard.

Advantages

The biggest advantage of living in a city-center is the easy access to all the business, trade and educational offices. City-centers are planned in such a manner that they become the hub of everything related to commercial, official or educational fields. Most universities and colleges are located in the city-center and students from suburbs have to commute long distances to reach their alma maters. Similarly, professionals have to take public or private transport to reach the city-center. Monthly fares of public transports, despite all the discounts, are quite expensive these days.

On the contrary, people living in the city-center do not have to incur any transportation costs. In most cases, all the famous buildings, business centers and universities are located within a walking distance. There are no expenditures in transportation costs and time wasted in travelling. Additionally, one can save money on dining costs as one can simply head back to home to eat during lunch breaks. People from the suburbs are unfortunate in this regard. They have to eat lunch from the push carts or restaurants and this entails some big spending, even if the rates are affordable. Monthly expenditures on food bills are enough to cause a big dent in your monthly budget.

Disadvantages

There are also many disadvantages of living in a city-center. First of all, there is no sense of privacy as the city centre remains active till late night. Secondly, the house rents are sky high in the city-center. Everyone wants to live there and homeowners take full advantage of this phenomenon. Another disadvantage of living in a city-center is the lack of suburban activities and neighbourhood attitude that is prevalent in the suburbs. There are hardly any parks and open spaces where one can breathe fresh air. In most cases, the environment is polluted because of thousands of cars that throng the roads and alleys. Similarly, the proportion of trees and shrubs is far less than a typical suburb that is usually green and pollution free.

The sense of community is also lacking in the city-center as people remain busy in their own affairs and do not pay any attention to their neighbours and friends. Another down point of living in the city center is the higher prices of commodities. As compared to suburbs, that are usually located close to farmer markets; city centers are cramped places with high property rents. Shops often pass on that high price to their customers.